Volvo cars and trucks can now share traffic alerts with
each other

Mallory Locklear

Volvo Cars announced today that some of its models will begin sharing real-time data with certain Volvo trucks. When drivers of Volvo cars with the Hazard Light Alert system switch on their hazard lights, an alert is sent to all other nearby cars with the cloud-based service. The alerts act as a warning about slowdowns or potentially hazardous accidents. Now, for the first time, Volvo Cars is sharing that data with another company -- Volvo Trucks -- which will help identify more traffic incidents and possibly improve driver safety.

"Sharing real-time safety data based on our connected safety technology can help avoid accidents," Malin Ekholm, vice president of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre, said in a statement. "The more vehicles we have sharing safety data in real time, the safer our roads become. We look forward to establishing further collaborations with other partners who share our commitment to traffic safety." Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is a goal for a number of groups including government agencies and companies like Toyota and Volkswagen.

Volvo Cars' Hazard Light Alert has come standard on a number of models sold in Sweden and Norway since 2016. The system's data will be shared with select Volvo trucks sold in Sweden and Norway equipped with Volvo Trucks' own version of the connected safety hazard alert system. Volvo trucks included in the data-sharing collaboration include the FH16, FH, FM and FMX.

The data shared through the cloud systems will be anonymized and aggregated and will therefore comply with the upcoming GDPR standards.